Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03, RTT News reports. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $42.80 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $334.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.72 and a 200 day moving average of $39.35. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.62.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,230,389 shares of company stock worth $6,023,064,684. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.